Related papers: When physics meets chemistry at dynamic glass tran…
The statistical mechanics of particles that populate indistinguishable energy sub-states is explored. In particular, the mathematical treatment of the microstates differs from conventional statistical mechanics where for a given degeneracy,…
The possibility, envisaged in 1925 by Einstein following the suggestion of Bose, of a dilute gas of atoms being condensed into a single quantum state was experimentally achieved in 1995 following decades of research. An avalanche of…
Many physicists, following Einstein, believe that the ultimate aim of theoretical physics is to find a unified theory of all interactions which would not depend on any free dimensionless constant, i.e., a dimensionless constant that is only…
Supercooled liquid state is a particularly interesting state in that it exhibits several unusual physical properties. To illustrate, the liquid displays a single peak relaxation frequency at high temperatures, which splits into $\alpha$…
In this article we describe the crystallization conjecture. It states that, in appropriate physical conditions, interacting particles always place themselves into periodic configurations, breaking thereby the natural translation-invariance…
A mode-coupling theory for the slow single-particle dynamics in fluids adsorbed in disordered porous media is derived, which complements previous work on the collective dynamics [V. Krakoviack, Phys. Rev. E 75, 031503 (2007)]. Its…
Soft condensed matter physics is the study of materials, such as fluids, liquid crystals, polymers, colloids, and emulsions, that are ``soft" to the touch. This article will review some properties, such as the dominance of entropy, that are…
Despite the diversity of materials designated as active matter, virtually all active systems undergo a form of dynamic arrest when crowding and activity compete, reminiscent of the dynamic arrest observed in colloidal and molecular fluids…
The glassy dynamics of dense active matter have recently become a topic of interest due to their importance in biological processes such as wound healing and tissue development. However, while the liquid-state properties of dense active…
Quantum theory is extremely successful in explaining most physical phenomena, and is not contradicted by any experiment. Yet, the theory has many puzzling features : the occurrence of probabilities, the unclear distinction between the…
The double slit interference experiment has been famously described by Richard Feynman as containing the "only mystery of quantum mechanics". The history of quantum mechanics is intimately linked with the discovery of the dual nature of…
In this paper we expand our previous investigation of a quantum particle subject to the action of a random potential plus a fixed harmonic potential at a finite temperature T. In the classical limit the system reduces to a well-known…
This Ph.D. thesis is divided in two parts. The first one concerns the equilibrium properties of glassy systems. Some aspects of the phenomenology of glasses and of theories attempting to describe them are reviewed in chapter 1. A study of…
A geometrically frustrated (GF) magnet consists of localised magnetic moments, spins, whose orientation cannot be arranged to simultaneously minimise their interaction energies. Such materials may host novel fascinating phases of matter,…
Recent ideas based on the properties of assemblies of frictionless particles in mechanical equilibrium provide a perspective of amorphous systems different from that offered by the traditional approach originating in liquid theory. The…
Dynamics of spin-glasses subjected to slow continuous changes of working enviroment such as slow changes of temperature or interaction bonds are studied based on scaling arguments and numerical simulations of continuous bond changes. Such…
We simulate the compression of a two-component Lennard-Jones liquid at a variety of constant temperatures using a molecular dynamics algorithm in an isobaric-isothermal ensemble. The viscosity of the liquid increases with pressure,…
Based on experimental evidences we present a phenomenological description of the thermal glass transition as a dynamical phase transition. Different susceptibilities calculated on the basis of this description are in good qualitative…
We study concentrated binary colloidal suspensions, a model system which has a glass transition as the volume fraction $\phi$ of particles is increased. We use confocal microscopy to directly observe particle motion within dense samples…
Symmetry distills the simplicity of natural laws from the complexity of physical phenomena. The symmetry principle is of vital importance in various aspects of modern physics, including analyzing atomic spectra, determining fundamental…